Football players expect to win national championships when they commit to Mount Union.

When a program has won 13 titles since 1993, the odds are that no one will play four years for the Raiders without experiencing at least one NCAA Division III title.

Still, when it happens for the first time, like it did for Brighton High School graduates Nick Brish and Brendan Klaus Friday night in Salem, Va., there’s nothing ordinary about the feeling.

“I was almost in shock,” Brish said. “Me and my friend Austin White were pretty much out at midfield, looked at each other and were kind of in awe. It really didn’t hit us until the bus ride home. Everything that happened was kind of a whirlwind.”

Brish was on the field when teammate Trevor Cox tackled receiver Jonel Reed on the final play of a 12-0 shutout of top-ranked Mary Hardin-Baylor in the Stagg Bowl, which serves as the national championship game for Division III.

Finally, at the end of an old-school defensive slugfest, Klaus could exhale.

“Relief,” was his description of the moment. “It was kind of a tight game the whole way. We put in all that work and finally it paid off. Mostly, just happiness.”

Brish had a game-high 10 tackles, including 1.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles for losses. The junior outside linebacker sacked quarterback Carl Robinson for a safety to cap the scoring with 10:29 left in the game. Brish was named the game’s Most Outstanding Player.

“It was definitely amazing,” Brish said. “We played great team defense. Coach (Vince) Kehres and the other defensive coaches did a great job calling the defense the whole game and put us in great positions to make good players. I was 1/11th doing my job out there. Everyone else did their job perfectly, to a T almost. We showed how our defense can play when we work together as one unit.”

A defensive struggle suited Brish just fine, but made for a tough night for Klaus and the Mount Union offense. The Raiders scored only one touchdown and had 229 yards of total offense.

“They were a very good defense,” said Klaus, a sophomore. “I tried my best to play the best game I could, but I definitely had my hands full with that D-line and that whole defense.

“We feel like we had a good game plan for this defense. Basically, we figured whoever got on the board first could be the difference in the game, because we both had great defenses. Credit to Mary Hardin-Baylor: They had the best defense we’ve seen all year. It made it a really exciting game.”

After some down time, of course. Neither Brish nor Klaus had played more than 11 football games before going through 15 this season.

“That’s probably the most sore I’ve felt after any game,” Klaus said. “It took a toll.”

A toll that was worth it. Brish and Klaus have now added their names to the legacy at Mount Union, a tradition that was reinforced when the current team met with former players to celebrate after the game.

"There were quite a few guys from 2015 there and guys from past years who were supporting us," Brish said. "There were definitely some guys I consider elite. All were great football players at Mount Union. We cemented our whole team in that category now, to be one of 13 teams at Mount Union to win a national championship. It's an honor, something that felt really amazing after the game."